I have a 64-bit Windows 7 Home desktop, and a 64-bit Windows 7 Enterprise laptop on the same homegroup. They worked flawlessly until very recently. I took my laptop with me on a trip, and when I got back, I started having problems with the homegroup. Whenever the laptop goes to sleep or hibernates or is rebooted, it is removed from the homegroup, as it should be. When I try to wake it up, the computer is connected to the internet via the proper wi-fi network, so that's not an issue. However, when I try to use the homegroup, one or both will be unable to recognize the other, despite them realizing they are both in the "Myname Home" homegroup. I have tried fiddling with the firewall and disabling upnp. Please help.
What firewall and antivirus are you using? Dad had a similar problem connecting his laptop (which ran ESET smart security) to the homegroup again after the first time he took it to work. From what I figured out, the only firewall guaranteed to work with homegroups is the Windows built-in one - it's worked fine since I made him toss out ESET... If you're already running the Windows Firewall on both computers, try disconnecting the both of them from the homegroup and creating a new one. Also, don't disable UPNP, AKA Network Discovery. A lot of things work less than optimally without it. (I currently have three Windows 8 and two Windows 7 machines in my homegroup, plus another Windows 8 machine as a VM on my workstation, all of which run only MSSE or Windows 8 Defender. All except for one of the Win8 units are regularly put in hibernation in order to keep the noise down after bedtime, and they all find the network just fine after starting back up...)
Left homegroup and created a new one multiple times. Works fine until either sleeps. AVG anti-virus Windows Firewall
Did you connect to a wifi network or the like while you were gone? It sounds likes something messed with a default setting. I'd imagine somewhere there's an option to automatically reconnect that's been disabled.
Nope. Checked that. But nevermind, I found a kludge. I just discon and recon to the wifi network. Much faster than exiting and re-entering the homegroup.
I'd assume it's not a user-settable preference, but rather something sub-surface that was redefined by one of the wifi networks you connected to. A similar thing happened with two of my laptops each time I stayed at a specific hotel. If memory serves it's similar to that whole zombie "Free Wifi" adhoc fake network.
Drat, that's one option I forgot to mention. Disconnecting and reconnecting tends to solve a lot of those weird network problems that spring up sometimes. Another thing that's also part of the standard troubleshooting procedure is logging on to the router and rebooting it - or, failing that, rebooting it physically by pulling the plug. I've had all kinds of weird crap happen with my router when it's been on long enough... Homegroup Networking is completely dependent on ipv6, which might be the reason it won't work after a hibernation - the ipv6 service fails to wake up again. Also, connecting to a different network with no ipv6 hosts (or compatible routers) can also cause windows to turn the service off as unneccessary. It's a pain in the ass, especially since the configuration and stuff for ipv6 is different enough from ipv4 that it's hard to figure out where the problems might be... Your "kludge" is probably your best bet for now, unless you turn off hibernation on your computers and leave them on permanently while the power is connected.
Funny thing is, since I started doing that, I haven't really needed to. It seems to work fine after sleeping.
